OKLAHOMA CITY – More than five years elapsed between the first and second no-hitters of the NAIA era of Mid-America Christian University softball. The third such no-hitter took place just 25 days after the second.
Regan Martin fired a perfect game in the second game of the Lady Evangels' (14-6) double-header sweep of Ecclesia College (0-10), retiring all 15 batters she faced as MACU won both games by scores of 8-0.
Hanna Harris opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning of game one with an RBI single that scored Ribbin Anderson to put MACU on top 1-0. Amber O'Bryant lofted a sacrifice fly in the second to score Alanna Leisy and double the Lady Evangels' lead, and in the third, MACU broke the game open.
In the third, Hannah Salmon singled home Caitlin Butler, and with two outs in the inning, Leisy singled to right, and both she and Salmon scampered home on an error in right field that allowed the ball to roll all the way to the wall. Anderson singled home O'Bryant in the fourth frame, and in the fifth, MACU scored twice to push their lead to 8-0 and invoke the run-rule.
Larie Amos (4-1) tossed the complete game two-hit shutout and she struck out seven.
As hard as it may be to believe, Martin was even better in game two
Martin let only two balls leave the infield on the day, both of them fly balls to right field that were handled by Larissa Tate. Martin struck out three of the first six hitters she faced, but the MACU offense did not get going until the third frame.
In the third, Kortney Brown singled, then stole second and third before scoring on a wild throw to give MACU the 1-0 lead.
After the Royals went in order again in the fourth, MACU broke the game open. Tate doubled home Salmon and Leisy, and Jessica Johnson scored on an error on the same play, to give MACU a 4-0 lead. Three batters later, Tate scored on a single from Brown and after four, the Lady Evangels led 5-0.
Martin struck out two more in the fifth inning, and she ran her streak of consecutive batters retired to 15, setting up the possibility of a perfect game if the Lady Evangels were able to score three runs in the fifth inning.
Salmon hit a one out double in the fifth, and Jessica Holt pinch-ran for her. Leisy reached on an error that allowed Holt to score, and a second error put runners at first and second for MACU with two outs. Shelby Hicks pinch hit for the Lady Evangels, and she singled home Leisy, and runners ended up at the corners with Tate as the runner at third. Courtney Hickman then stepped in as a pinch hitter and singled down the right field line, driving in Tate, ending the game in an 8-0 MACU win, and giving Martin the perfect game.
Martin (3-1) struck out eight of the 15 batters she faced in the win. Emily Chadwell took the loss in game two as she allowed eight runs – three earned – on 11 hits with one walk and one strikeout.
MACU will be in action again on Monday afternoon when they play a home double-header against Haskell Indian Nations University (4-11). The games were originally scheduled for February 24, but they will now be played on Monday at 1 p.m.
